Riyaz Patel
The UK Supreme Court has ruled that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson acted unlawfully when he decided to prorogue (suspend) parliament for five weeks, plunging Britain into a constitutional crisis.
Delivering judgment Tuesday, President of the UK Supreme Court, Lady Hale, said Johnson’s advice to Queen Elizabeth was “unlawful, void and of no effect.”
All 11 Judges were unanimous in ruling that the UK parliament ostensibly has “not been prorogued” and that the PM prevented lawmakers from carrying out their duties.
In what was essentially a damning indictment of Johnson’s judgement , Lady Hale said the “effects on the fundamentals of democracy was extreme” with this unlawful act.
The Supreme Court was told the government has not been able to justify the length of prorogation.
The Scottish National Party’s Joanna Cherry, who had her case against the suspension of parliament heard by the court, insisted Johnson should now “do the decent thing and resign.”
The UK government had argued that prorogation was not an issue for the courts, but critics claimed Johnson was trying to limit the amount of time lawmakers could have to scrutinize the PM’s Brexit policy.
Parliament was suspended on 9 September and MPs were not due to reconvene until October 14 – with Brexit deadline day fast approaching.
